1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to swimming pools, and more particularly to a system and apparatus for dispersing ozone in swimming pool water for sanitizing purposes.
2. Background Information
Ozone can be a good substitute for the commercially available chlorine compounds often used for sanitizing swimming pool water. Its odor is less offensive, its effect on the human eye less irritating, and its pH neutral. Thus, problems associated with its use for sanitizing swimming pool water demand attention.
One problem concerns the need for adequate dispersal throughout the relatively large volume of essentially non-turbulent swimming pool water. Consider, for example, a swimming pool installation having an ozone generator that pumps ozone through a number of fixed ozone-injection ports installed during construction along the swimming pool bottom. That arrangement helps disperse the ozone throughout the pool water, but it may do so somewhat non-uniformly.
To see why, recall that the swimming pool bottom is usually inclined. As a result, ozone-injection ports distributed along the swimming pool bottom at various spaced-apart locations have different elevations, with the ozone naturally tending to flow more readily through the higher ports where it must overcome less hydrostatic pressure than through the lower ones. That means non-uniform dispersion and its adverse affect on sanitizing efficiency and effectiveness. Consequently, it is desirable to have some way to more uniformly disperse the ozone.